Utah Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) and left wing Lawson Crouse (67) celebrate their victory over the New York Rangers at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sat Nov 22, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–JJ Peterka scored his fifth goal in six games and Nick DeSimone netted the game-winner on his 31st birthday as Utah gets back on track with win over New York.

The Utah Mammoth (10-8-3) hosted the New York Rangers (10-10-2) at Delta Center on Saturday night for the second of four games on the current homestand. Both teams entered the night’s contest looking to snap losing streaks, with Utah having lost its previous four and New York having lost its previous three.

Midway through the first period, Thursday’s lone goal-scorer for the Mammoth, Nate Schmidt, put the puck on the net with the rebound tipped in by JJ Peterka for his 9th goal of the season with the additional assist to Jack McBain.

The goal was Peterka’s fifth over the past six games. That Utah lead would last a little more than 5 minutes before Rangers defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov tipped a shot from Adam Fox into the Mammoth net for his 3rd goal of the season. The period concluded with the clubs knotted up at 1-1. Jonathan Quick turned away 12 of 13 shots in the frame while Karel Vejmelka denied 11 of 12.

Eight minutes into the second period the Rangers went up 2-1 on a snap shot goal by Artemi Panarin, his 6th of the season, assisted by Vincent Trocheck and Gavrikov. At 11:15 of the period, Mammoth fans erupted in cheers believing their team had just scored, but the on ice officials did not signal for play to stop and coaches on the Utah bench waved their arms frantically and screamed for their players to get back on defense.

About 15 seconds later, with the puck now behind the Mammoth net, the goal horn sounded and play on the ice stopped. It was determined that the fans weren’t crazy and Utah captain Clayton Keller Goal had indeed scored his eighth of the season, assisted by Kailer Yamamoto tying the score at 2-2 which is how the period ended in which Quick turned away 7 of 8 Mammoth shots and Utah’s defense continued its season-long trend of limiting shots on goal by their opponents with Vejmelka turning away 2 of just 3 total shots.

At 7:32 of the third period, with Utah applying pressure around the New York net, the Rangers attempted to bat the puck out of the zone but instead found the stick of Mammoth defenseman Nick DeSimone at the top of the red circle who one-timed a slap shot through traffic and into the back of the net for his second goal of the season, unassisted, to regain the Utah lead 3-2.

Both DeSimone goals this season have come against opponents from his home state of New York. At one point near the middle of the frame, the Rangers were all over the crease as Vejmelka gave his best ninja impression to fight off the attack. With a little more than three minutes remaining, Mammoth forward Michael Carcone crashed the Rangers crease leaving Jonathan Quick keeled over inside the net.

After an extended break it was determined that Quick could remain in the game, but the damage was already done as Utah snapped its losing streak while New York extended theirs. The Mammoth improved their home record to 6-2-1, with Vejmelka stopping 20 of 22 shots on the night.

DeSimone’s goal held up as the game winner as he also celebrated his 31st birthday. When asked if it was the best birthday present he had ever received, he was torn between saying yes and ultimately wisely crediting his wife. It was the second game-winning goal in his career.

DeSimone was all smiles addressing the media in the locker room after the game. “Everyone bought in tonight. Every guy was playing out the game, and we just stuck with it for the whole night, and we got rewarded for it.” Speaking of the team gaining momentum later in the game, the defenseman added, “Each game, we have a different plan of how we want to create. We always want to get the middle or get pucks to the net and reward our forwards, or take cross-checks. We just want to get the puck there and let him get some chances.” Asked about how he stays ready for big moments, DeSimone said, “It’s my job to be ready whether I am playing or not playing. Just being in a good mood, being grateful for every day, and showing up. If I’m playing, I just try and do what I can to help.”

JJ Peterka began his interview opining on the team’s overall performance. “Good team effort throughout the whole game. Even when we went down tonight, we found a way to get back in the game and stuck to the game plan.” Regarding his team’s mindset and goals for the game, he remarked, “Competing harder. That was the message over the last couple of days. We got a little away from that over the last couple of games, and I think today we did a much better job of getting to the shooting line and getting second chances. That gave us a win.” The German forward praised Karel Vejmelka’s performance in the net, saying “Super consistent game. Huge saves. In the third, with four or five rebounds, it kept us in the game the whole game, and we did our job on the other side.” Peterka added, “Keeping it simple was the message for the game. It turned out to be good. Just a lot of pucks to the net and a lot of second efforts to the net. That won us the game.”

Mammoth Head Coach André Tourigny was in high spirits as he entered the media room. “Saturday night. The Rangers. Two points. What a beautiful night in Utah, huh?” Tourigny continued, “I cannot be more proud of the battle level, the way we drove the net, the way we moved the puck quickly and we won battles forward. There’s a lot of guys I’m proud of, a lot of guys. There’s a lot of guys who could have, and should have been on the ice in the last minute of play. Hard to pick, but I had to pick guys, but it was fun to coach that game.” With regard to momentum swings, the coach said, “We had a tough shift in the third where we turned it over, and then Cool’s (Logan Cooley) line went on the inside, and we talked on the bench about momentum and how to get the momentum back. And not just by their decision, but they scored a goal on top of playing the right way on that shift. So that was good, and we need to give credit to Vej (Karel Vejmelka), because that key moment, like you just mentioned, he made a key save.” He concluded, “what we could control, we did it with pride, with intensity, with focus, and with determination. So it’s good, I’m happy about the way we play, but at the same time, it’s midnight rules, great, celebrate, good job. But it doesn’t mean anything anymore, we just have two more points. We need to be ready for the next game in front of our fans against Vegas, and have a bounce back game.”

Utah’s Thursday night opponent, the Vegas Golden Knights, return to Delta Center again on Monday for the 3rd game of 4 on the current homestand.